Chandrashekhar Azad Demands 'One Medicine, One Price' Policy to Curb Price Disparity

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi — Azad Samaj Party (ASP) President and Member of Parliament Chandrashekhar Azad has called for the implementation of a nationwide "one medicine, one price" policy, highlighting stark disparities in the pricing of essential medicines across pharmaceutical companies.

Addressing reporters in the capital, Azad said, “In a country where the government promotes ‘one nation, one election,’ why does the same medicine have different names and prices? One company’s medicine costs ₹5, while another’s costs ₹200.” He argued that such discrepancies allow companies a "free hand" to overcharge consumers, leading to excessive financial burden on the common public.

Azad alleged that a lack of regulation is enabling pharmaceutical companies to market the same formulations under different brand names with vast price differences. He said this practice disproportionately affects lower-income families who struggle to afford basic healthcare.

While price regulation exists under the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which sets ceilings for certain drugs listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), many medicines outside this list remain unregulated in terms of price.